Photo

Q. I’m a faithful viewer of “Seventh Heaven.” However, I’m so disappointed in the storyline that has Simon, one of the sons, having premarital sex and getting a girl pregnant. I thought this was one of the few shows left that families could safely watch together. Christina J.

A. Catherine Hicks, who plays the mother (Annie Camden) says, “I’m more afraid of the show becoming too good to be true and people losing respect for it truly reflecting society.” I think she’s on to something. Even in the best of families, kids will make mistakes, sometimes life-altering ones. Keep watching. The show is dealing with this very sensitively and responsibly, in my humble opinion

* * *

Q. What’s next for the new season of “The Apprentice”? I think they’ve done the guy vs. girl thing to death! Anything new on the horizon? Jim G.

A. Yes, with the show’s debut this month, the teams will be divided into “book smart vs. street smarts”. In other words, mere high school graduates will be competing against those MBA’s. That should be interesting, especially since producer Mark Burnett says, “The high school grads had an income three times higher than the college grads.” Wow!

* * *

Q. What happened with Bitty Schram, who played Sharona on “Monk”? I heard she won’t be returning for the second half of the season. What a shame! The chemistry between her and Tony Shalhoub was phenomenal. Hayley T.

A. Apparently, the decision for Bitty to leave was a mutual one between her and the powers-that-be. Beyond that, though, her manager Scott Zimmerman said, her departure was “too painful, and she still had friends” on the set. Executive producer David Hoberman chalks it up to “creative differences”. On January 21, new cast member Traylor Howard steps in as Natalie, a widow and single mother, who will serve as Monk’s new sidekick.